Freshly Unsorted || A Drarry Story

One: Conversation

Draco pulled away from Harry suddenly, leaving him swaying for only a moment before he realized that Draco was no longer with him. He gave Draco a quizzical look.

"I wanted to see you dancing, " Draco explained, "and I couldn't see pressed against you."

Harry grinned slowly. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Hmm?" Draco hummed as he sat down on the blanket, humming again when he laid on his back and the heat spread through him. He heard Harry sit down next to him and he reached to touch him, his hand landing on Harry's knee.

"Why did you take me here?"

Draco opened his eyes. "Because I thought you would like it. I used to come here a lot and I . . .wanted you to know about it."

Harry laid down next to him, his emerald eyes unwavering. He asked, "Why did you come often?"

Draco looked at him for a long time, trying to find the best explanation. "In third year, " he stated, "I really wanted to . . .wanted to be near you. In a good way. Like how we are now." He reached for Harry's hand, relief flooding his entire being when Harry held him tightly, bringing his hand to his mouth and planting a small kiss on it.

"And?"

Draco smiled, but it came out as broken. "That's when things at the Manor got really bad. I would be ridiculed endlessly and get 'Crucio' a lot. My mother would try to stop my father a few times, but she ultimately gave up on me."

Harry's eyes filled with sympathy and not pity. Draco didn't think he could continue if the eyes he so dearly loved filled with the one emotion he hated the most.

"When I came back, it was like a switch flipped in my head; I wanted to not come back, but I knew I needed to if I wanted to escape my father. It was a cowardly move. I think that's the main reason I wasn't sorted into Gryffindor like I'd hoped to be."

"But you said that happened during the summer before third year. Why would you want to change Houses halfway through?" Harry asked, his eyebrows furrowing with confusion. Draco rubbed the spot between Harry's eyebrows with his thumb making Harry bite his lip.

"I lied. I--it wasn't only before third year. I didn't want to tell you that it was happening before. When I was eleven, the two choices I had were to be homeschooled by Father or to go to Hogwarts. I chose the latter, wanting to get away from it all."

"Draco?" Harry said in an uncertain tone. "What House did you want to be in?"

"I . . .I wanted to be in Ravenclaw. But I wanted to be brave like Gryffindor, patient like the Hufflepuff, intelligent like Ravenclaw, and ambitious like the Slytherins. I wanted a bit of all of the houses in me."

"You still have that, Draco."

"No. I'm cowardly for running away from my father. I'm driven by pure stubbornness. I'm nowhere near patient. I should have been more intelligent and lay down my wand in sixth year so that Dumbledore didn't die. I---"

"Everybody makes mistakes, Draco Malfoy, " Harry told him, his soft voice full of confidence and love. But Draco could have imagined that last part. "It doesn't matter about what you did before. It matters what you do with what you did. To either make better choices or to not."

Draco thought that he must have had a look full of uncertainty because Harry clarified further. "You're brave for even telling me this. You may not be the most patient person, but you are loyal and just. You're so much smarter than me---"

"Don't make it sound like I'm better than you, Harry."

"Draco."

Draco turned his head away and sat up so that Harry couldn't see his face when he said, "Merlin, I only ever shared this to Blaise and Theo. I never really wanted to tell you but I did. My mother told me to never tell anybody."

Draco felt Harry's small hand run through his hair and he loved that feeling; the feeling that somebody was touching him out of love and not to hurt him. He turned again to face Harry and smiled at the look on his face that told him that Harry touched him out of instinct.

"Sometimes, " said Harry, "I think I'm a freak. For this scar. For being an orphan. Responsible for the deaths of all the people I love. Hell, somehow, I feel responsible for what happened to you. It sounds silly, I know.

"But, honestly, I think that's what fueled me for so long. Now, I don't have that burden and a new one replaced it and it's odd. I thought that I was going to die and everything would be over and then . . .it didn't end. I wanted out of this life so desperately, Draco. I knew I was supposed to die so I believed that I should die. If it kept everyone safe . . ." Draco noted the tears in Harry's green eyes as he continued. ". . .but if I had only died sooner, when I was supposed to, nobody I love would have had to die for me."

"Harry, no . . ." Draco choked out. He wiped at the tears running silently down Harry's soft face. "Don't think that. Ever."

"But---"

"But it's not true and you still have people alive who love you. Ron, Hermione, the Weasleys, Teddy Lupin, and . . .me. I love you, Harry."

Harry looked up at him. "You what?"

"I . . .love you?"

Harry couldn't stop the smile that twitched at his lips, smiling more when Draco smiled and whispered in his ear, "I love you, Harry Potter."

Draco kissed his forehead and added in a whisper, "You don't have to say it back if you don't want to."

"Would you be angry if I didn't?" Harry asked, a glint in his eyes.

Draco's heart clenched. "No, "

He felt Harry's arms snake across and around his torso. It was subtle but not too much. Looking down, he held the raven-haired boys face in his hands, his pale fingers lightly touching his throat.

"Well, Draco Malfoy, " whispered Harry, "I love you too. Very much so."

Draco was smiling by now, the most amazing smile at that. It was better than Harry had ever seen. He pressed himself against Draco's chest, wanting to feel the steady heartbeat that he loved listening to as he fell asleep. But neither were sleeping. Neither thought that they could ever be tired again.

Slowly, as if he didn't want to startle a frenzied, terrified animal, he leaned down, hoping that Harry wouldn't pull away.

I need you, he tried to nonverbally tell the other boy. Their lips met, making Harry shiver. Draco tightened his arms around Harry's shoulders, almost smiling when he gasped against his lips.

I want you. Draco's hand found itself in Harry's unbearably messy hair and he wanted more. Neither boys were breaking away for breath, sharing each others instead. Draco tightened his hand, knotting dark, dark hair in his hand.

More. More, more, more.

Harry pulled away from Draco's lips to get a much-needed breath and Draco kissed along his jaw and front of his neck. Signalling that he wanted Draco to continue, Harry groaned and turned his head, giving the blonde more room to roam. Draco loved how Harry's hands fastened themselves onto his winter coat, surely leaving creases.

Draco nipped at Harry's ear lobe and was surprised when Harry stifled a moan. "I thought you didn't like that."

Harry replied quietly, not wanting to break this moment. "Not around the others, "

Draco smiled against Harry's cheek as he did the same thing again.

There is no way that I'll ever want anybody else.

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